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MURDER of a policeman Eyewitnesses say several shots were fired, a large crowd gathered at the spot, but the Chheharta police reached after the ASI lay dead. In fact, the police team from Gharinda, where the ASI was posted, reached before the policemen from Chheharta police station, said an eyewitness. Gharinda is around 15 km from the crime scene. Robinjeet Kaur called up her father on Wednesday after she noticed accused Ranjit Singh Rana, a local Akali leader, and his men in a vehicle yet again. They had been allegedly stalking her for the past few days. Eyewitnesses said the ASI, along with two of his colleagues, reached the spot around 2.45 pm and asked the accused to stop harassing Robinjeet. This led to a confrontation. Rana and his men allegedly first shot the ASI on the leg with a pistol and fled when their ammunition finished. A crowd gathered at the spot after hearing the gunshots. Ravinderpal informed the Gharinda police station (where he was posted) of the incident, made some other calls for help for about 20 minutes and remained at the spot. Around 3.20 pm, Rana and his accomplices returned with another firearm
and fatally shot the ASI in the chest. An eyewitness not willing to be named said he saw the ASI alight from his car along with two other policemen that fateful day. “The ASI’s colleagues escaped when things turned ugly,” he said. “Two other policemen also passed by the crime scene in their vehicles, but chose not to help the ASI. The Chheharta police came much after the ASI was shot dead. In fact, irate people who had gathered on the spot by then even slapped some policemen.” A trader who runs a shop near the crime scene said one of the cops accompanying the ASI first hid behind a pile of bricks at the spot before escaping from the scene. A fruit vendor who runs a shop at Chheharta Chowk revealed that despite heavy traffic at the busy intersection, he heard a couple of gunshots. Policemen were on duty at the chowk at that time, he said. An auto-rickshaw driver said everyone knew something had gone wrong near Chheharta Chowk as a large number of people had gathered there. Anil Kumar, another eyewitness, said a couple of policemen from Chheharta police station reached the scene on foot five minutes after the ASI was shot dead. A police officer at the Chheharta police station said they did not come to know about the firing as there are two marriage palaces between the crime scene and the police station that play loud music, However, eyewitness say both marriage palaces were shut that day.
ASI never sought help: SHO
Ashwini Kumar, the dismissed SHO of Chheharta police station near which ASI Ravinderpal Singh was shot dead, on Saturday said there was no negligence on his part and the ASI never called them up for help. He said the police reached on time and it was them who rushed the ASI to the hospital. He also denied reports that he will be moving the high court against his dismissal, stating that he had full faith in his higher officials. Regarding the complaint filed by the ASI’s daughter Robinjeet Kaur at his police station on December 1, he said facts were being twisted in the media. “She came to me on that day and told me that four persons stopped her scooter in the middle of the road near Chheharta and abused and humiliated her. She was crying.” He said when he asked her whether she had approached the cops deployed on Chheharta Chowk, she said nobody was there. However, when he sent two constables to check, there were cops on the duty. DIG suspended
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Amritsar, December 8